Deportation raises questions about delays, hearing claims

The Toronto Star – Wednesday, July 14, 1999 BY VALERIE LAWTON OTTAWA BUREAU Woman was in Canada illegally for 11 years before being ordered out OTTAWA – Mavis Baker was in Canada illegally for 11 years – giving birth to four children – before immigration officials finally ordered her deported. Her case has made headlines over the clash between the rights of Canadian-born children and the government’s right to deport people from Canada. But some say it has also highlighted another serious problem. Why does it take so long for some cases to wind their way through the immigration department? Even the immigration officer who handled Baker’s file summed up its history this way: “This case is a catastrophe. It is also an indictment of our ‘system’ that the client came as a visitor in Aug.’81, was not ordered deported until Dec.’92 and in APRIL’94 IS STILL HERE!,” her wrote, with…